“I’m very proud of who Sam is this year,” Padalecki told reporters in the video below. “His loss is accentuated even further and exacerbated by the fact that he also has 30 people living in the Men of Letters bunker who are from a different planet. And all these people want to kill Michael—not necessarily want to save Dean, but want to kill Michael.”

“Sam can’t find his brother…Sam also knows, uniquely, almost, [that] between Sam and Cas, they’re some of the few people that have been possessed by an archangel and lived to tell about it,” he continued. “So Sam is trying to be as methodical as possible to find his brother and get him back safe and sound, without just trying to destroy Michael and Michael’s vessel, Dean.”

As Sam struggles with his new reality, Castiel (Misha Collins), Mary (Samantha Smith) attempt to assist. But “[h]e hasn’t really leaned on anybody yet,” Padalecki admitted. “He accepts help from them…but he hasn’t really opened up.”